


just the champagne talking

by helsinkibaby



Series: Red [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Difference, Community: comment_fic, F/M, Romance, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 21:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3462071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"So what's going on between you and Barry's hot foster dad?"<br/>Or, Felicity figures something out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	just the champagne talking

**Author's Note:**

> For the comment fic Rare Pairings theme. Prompt, any, any/any, secrets revealed

"So, what's going on with you and Barry's hot foster dad?"

Caitlin almost choked on her sip of champagne, her head twisting around faster than she would have thought possible to see Felicity holding up her own champagne flute, staring at it accusingly. "Wow, I really should not have any more of this," she said, though she didn't make any moves to leave the glass down. Instead, she looked back up at Caitlin, blinking once. "Well?"

Caitlin cast around for an answer, forced a laugh to her lips that she hoped was in the vague neighbourhood of derisive. "Definitely no more for you," she said. "Why would you even ask that?"

Felicity raised an eyebrow. "Because you've been eyeing him up in that tux ever since we got here." Caitlin knocked back another sip of her champagne, knowing she couldn't deny that - she'd never seen Joe in a tux before but since he and Eddie were here undercover at Ray's black tie gala, they'd had to blend in with Central City's movers and shakers. "Not that I can blame you," Felicity continued, shaking her head. "He does wear it well... and those eyes... that smile..."

Figuring she was safe enough sneaking a peek, Caitlin glanced around to follow Felicity's gaze. Much to her surprise, instead of seeing Joe in conversation with Eddie, or keeping an eye on the crowd for any meta-human gatecrashers, her hazel eyes met his brown ones and when he saw her looking at him, his lips curled up in a smile. Caitlin could no more stop the flush that spread across her cheeks than she could stop the sun from rising and she smiled back, forgetting where she was for a moment. 

When she remembered, she looked back at Felicity who by then had a grin on her face much like the cat that ate the canary. "And also because he's been staring at you like you're water and he's dying of thirst." Caitlin bit her lip and Felicity's grin turned triumphant. "You're biting your lip; now I know I'm right."

Caitlin shook her head, wondering when her nervous habits became such common knowledge. "You can't tell anyone," she told Felicity, narrowing her eyes when Felicity let out a squeak of delight. "I mean it, Felicity," she said. "Barry doesn't know... Iris doesn't know. It's new and..."

She broke off, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. She squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them again, Felicity was standing closer to her, a frown on her immaculately made up face. "Caitlin, I'm sorry. I just thought you guys had some crazy mutual attraction thing going on, something that I am intimately acquainted with..." She twisted her lips, shook her head. "Right, not about me. Anyway, if I'd known there was something actually going on, I wouldn't have..." Her voice fades. "OK, concerned boyfriend at two o'clock, Caitlin, I am so sorry...."

Just as she apologised for the second time, there was a light but familiar touch on Caitlin's elbow. "Ladies." Joe's voice was quiet, perfectly neutral on the surface but Caitlin knew him well enough to know that there was concern under the surface. "Everything ok?"

"Of course, Detective!" Felicity's voice was overly bright, her eyes overly wide and Joe blinked and frowned in one expression. It looked so comical that Caitlin couldn't help herself; between the expression, the conversation and the champagne, she came down with a case of nervous giggles, a burst of them escaping her lips before she clamped them together tightly. Joe's frown only deepened, his eyes darting from Caitlin to Felicity and back again and Felicity seemed to decide that the better part of valour was discretion because she gestured vaguely over her shoulder. "I should... I'll just be..."

With that, she was gone, and Joe took the tiniest of steps closer to Caitlin. It was close enough that if anyone saw them, they might think that they were just talking, but then again it was close enough that she could smell his cologne, almost feel his body heat. This close, she couldn't help but notice the cut of his suit, how well it accented his broad shoulders and chest and she made a mental note to thank Ray and his generosity in outfitting Joe and Eddie that night. Suddenly, any urge to giggle was gone and she swallowed hard. "What's wrong?" Joe asked her and she shook her head. 

"Nothing... nothing." He looked doubtful, all narrowed eyes and tilted head and Caitlin had the craziest urge to kiss  him right then and there. Just then a waiter passed by and she placed her half full glass of champagne down on his tray. She'd definitely had enough. "Felicity figured us out."

If anyone had seen Joe's blink, his hard double take in the direction Felicity had vanished, they'd have figured them out too and Caitlin hoped that no-one was watching them too closely. "How?"

Caitlin quirked an eyebrow. "Apparently, we've been eyeing each other up all evening."

Joe cocked his head to one side, shrugged one shoulder as he nodded. "Guilty as charged." His eyes moved up and down her body and this close, Caitlin couldn't help but see the admiration in them, the hunger that lay just under that. "That, Doctor Snow, is some dress."

"Felicity helped me choose it." They'd had quite the couple of hours in a downtown boutique, courtesy of Ray's credit card, neither of them entirely sure about what they were actually doing but knowing that if they were going to be there at a party like this - Felicity as Ray's date, Caitlin as a bioengineering expert looking for funding - they had to look the part. Caitlin hadn't been sure about this dress at all, had thought that it was too tight, too slinky, too much, but Felicity, with a twinkle in her eyes that Caitlin only now understood, had talked her into it. 

Now, Caitlin had a feeling her cheeks were as red as the dress, and from the way that Joe was looking at her, she had a good idea that the flush wasn't just on her cheeks but was rather spreading up from her chest, across her neck and shoulders, the strapless neckline and her half-up hairdo making that readily apparent to anyone who cared to look. Which, if the darkening of his eyes was anything to go by, Joe did. "She chose well," he murmured, voice so low that only she could hear it, so low that it sent shivers down her spin, goosebumps along her skin and he must have seen those too because the edges of his lips turned up in a small smile. "I'll see you later?"

Caitlin nodded. "Count on it."

Then Eddie was at Joe's side, eyes moving from him to Caitlin, the tiniest of frowns around them. "We need to move," he said and move he did, but not before he threw one last look at Joe and Caitlin. She barely had the time to wonder what look meant - and though she was a bioengineer, she didn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out - before all hell broke loose around them. 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [take my hand (I'm taking you home)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3462149) by [helsinkibaby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby)




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